Looking for an epigenetics-based game for your classroom, or an academic lecture or video abstract about cancer drug development? An introductory infographic or animation designed for the general public? A protocol walk-through of a new epigenomics or bioinformatics method?

Well, I might just have what you’re looking for in this list I’ve assembled* of more than 300 articles and multimedia resources. The list includes articles, videos, audio recordings, infographics, games, slide decks, and online courses on various epigenetics-related topics, designed for all audience types from schools to the general public to academic experts. You can sort by creator, media type, topic, primary target audience, and year.

The vast majority of the items in this collection comprise content I’ve shared on the International Human Epigenome Consortium twitter account. As such, there’s a heavy bias towards topics related to human health, although there are also some resources that are relevant to other fields, such as agriculture, ecology, and evolution.

Items that I stumbled across online, or that people sent to me, were tweeted out pretty much as I found them – there was no attempt to perform a systematic survey of all available outreach and multimedia resources. If you’ve made, or know of, a resource that you think should be on this list, please send me a link and I’ll have a look! I’ll keep adding to the list as I come across new resources, and will update the online version every few months.

Neither I, nor any member of any of the organisations listed above, is responsible for the content of any items written or produced by third parties. Please be aware that some of the information included in the older resources in particular is no doubt out of date by now. I vetted all items at the time I originally tweeted them, but have not re-checked every word or every minute of them while building this spreadsheet, and it’s possible that some of them have been altered or updated.

Many do not realize or appreciate the awkward phase epigenetics is in and thus they are prone to misunderstanding or misstating findings in the field. But Ennis does an excellent job of explaining how epigenetics fits in as a subset of the fields of molecular biology and gene regulation. In fact, in the first ten pages, epigenetics and epigenetic changes are sparsely discussed, which should emphasize to the reader that this science has not trumped previous dogma on gene activity. Epigenetics is merely a piece of a larger puzzle.

The reality is that there is a broad spectrum of opinions about epigenetics, ranging from the purely pseudoscientific (e.g. your thoughts can stop or give you cancer) to believing the field to have little significance in the grand scheme of gene regulation to believing the theory of evolution needs to be rewritten because of epigenetics. Ennis does not shy away from some of these controversial ideas but does make sure to place the appropriate disclaimers.

(Speaking of book vendors, a note to Canadian readers: there’s been some kind of glitch with the Canadian supply of the book, which the publisher is trying to resolve. Amazon.ca are still listing the book as “Temporarily out of stock” and my friendly local independent bookstore have also had problems trying to order it from their usual Canadian supplier, but you can order it online from Chapters or from a US site. It’s also available as an e-book, but to be honest I think the illustrations work better in the hard copy version).

Advances in epigenetics mean incredibly detailed profiles of criminal suspects might soon be reality. Is the legal system ready to use this information?

Picture the scene. A detective is addressing her team:

“The DNA test results are in. We’re looking for a white male suspect, 34–37 years old, born in the summer in a temperate climate. He’s used cocaine in the past. His mother smoked, but he doesn’t. He drinks heavily, like his Dad. We’re seeing high stress levels, and looking at the air pollution markers, let’s start looking downtown, probably near a major intersection”.

Science fiction? Yes, for now. But advances in epigenetics – the study of reversible chemical modifications to chromosomes that play a role in determining which genes are activated in which cells – might soon start making their way out of research labs and into criminal forensics facilities.

Take the idea of the epigenetic clock, one of the ways in which our cells and DNA can betray our age. Epigenetic patterns change throughout our lives, along broadly predictable paths, making it possible to infer age from DNA samples.

Steve Horvath at UCLA has developed a statistical model based on 350 potential epigenetic modification positions in the human genome that can estimate your age to within three and a half years. The rate of epigenetic aging seems to depend somewhat on race, and can be affected by some health conditions, but this kind of test is already at the stage when forensics labs are validating it for use in criminal investigations.

The things we get up to while our epigenetic clocks are ticking can also leave their mark on our DNA. Cigarette smoking correlates with characteristic and persistent epigenetic changes. The same goes for cocaine, opioids and other illicit substances. There’s also some evidence for epigenetic signatures of obesity, traumatic childhood experiences, exposure to tobacco in the womb, season of birth, exposure to environmental pollution, exercise, and possibly even the things our parents and grandparents did before we were born.

There are also ways to detect non-epigenetic evidence of environmental exposures that we all experience For example, international travel or exposure to certain chemicals or experiences can change the composition of the microbiome (the collection of bacteria, viruses and fungi found in and on our bodies). Tests based on these observations might also eventually find their way into forensic science.

Unless there’s an urgent need to tell the difference between a pair of identical twins – for example if one is suspected of murder – none of these tests are likely to appear in court in the immediate future. There needs to be extensive validation before we know if these findings are specific and sensitive enough to be useful. Existing epigenetic analysis methods also use impracticably large samples of blood or tissue, much more than is usually available at a crime scene.

However, these technical challenges will hopefully soon be overcome, and it’s not too early to start thinking about the legal implications of this type of information. Do we want law enforcement agencies and governments to know the details of our personal and family histories, our vices and habits? Can epigenetic evidence be presented accurately by lawyers, and interpreted appropriately by jurors? Even intelligent people without statistical training can struggle with the concepts of, for example, probabilities in the context of DNA fingerprinting.

And if as a juror you’re supposed to decide somebody’s guilt or innocence based on evidence of the crime, what bias might be introduced by knowing their epigenetic history – or that of the victim?

There are no easy answers, and there is the potential to do great harm if these shiny new technologies are applied inappropriately. Epigenetics is an exciting and fast-moving science; let’s hope that the legal and ethical fields can keep up with it.

I got to see a staff preview of the Nature of Things episode on Tuesday, and I think the production team did an amazing job at presenting a balanced view of this specific project and of cancer genomics in general. If you’re in Canada, check it out on the CBC tonight at 8pm! It’ll be repeated on Saturday, and available online at the link above.

NB I’m not directly involved with this project, but pretty much everything we do in my department (Canada’s Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre) touches on POG in some way. Many of my colleagues and friends are featured in the documentary – it’s always very cool to see people you know on TV! We’re all very proud of the work we do; I hope you enjoy seeing inside our world!

Radio drama is making a big comeback in the form of podcasts, with plenty of high quality science fiction to choose from. Here are some of my favourites.

I’ve been a science fiction fan since I first read John Wyndham’s The Chrysalids as a kid. I quickly graduated to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy books (I’m proudly sporting a “Vote Zaphod Beeblebrox 2016” t-shirt as I write this), Red Dwarf, and countless other books, TV shows, and films – some of them great, some of them terrible, some of them (my favourites, if I’m honest) somehow managing to be both.

I’ve also been a podcast fan for many years. Ironically, however, given the origins of my beloved Hitchhiker series as a radio programme, I’d never combined the two interests until very recently; my phone’s playlist was full of documentary series. But then CBC Vancouver ran a story on a locally made paranormal mockumentary podcast, The Black Tapes(The X-Files meets Serial), and I suddenly found myself in a whole new world of audio drama – and discovered some phenomenal new science fiction.

The podcast format is ideal for old-time radio drama-style productions, which are making a big comeback. There seem to be new shows launching every week, and unfortunately many of them just don’t work – even when the story’s decent the characters’ voices sometimes all sound too similar, the actors haven’t rehearsed properly and are obviously reading from a script, or it’s not clear what’s going on in the big action sequences (apart from an awful lot of banging and shouting, usually). But when it’s done well, it’s a truly immersive experience and a wonderful way to enjoy some quality sci-fi while you commute, exercise, or plot galactic domination at the head of an army of evil robots.

My all-time favourite sci-fi podcast has to be Sayer (miraculously resurrected recently for a fourth season). The story of a colony established by a private company on an artificial moon is told almost entirely in one voice, that of the eponymous AI entity who runs the operation. The first few episodes focused largely on a single new member of the colony, and were fairly light in tone. However, the series got darker, more thoughtful (downright philosophical at times), and a lot more intricate as it went on to explore the origins and likely fate of the colony, and I was completely absorbed by the extremely clever use of sound and music (I almost missed my bus stop several times). They even managed to pull off an extremely satisfying ending to the original three-season arc, which is all too rare for a much beloved series. Very cleverly done, and highly recommended. I shall be listening to the whole thing all over again in anticipation of the new episodes.

Back on Earth, The Bright Sessions is also excellent. Imagine if Professor X ran a psychiatry practice instead of a school for gifted youngsters, and you’ve got the premise – Dr. Bright specializes in counselling young people with extraordinary powers, including time travel and telepathy. The early episodes each comprise a single session with seemingly unconnected patients, but as the story progresses the dots begin to connect into a larger conspiracy.

To The Manor Borne (By Robots) rounds out my top three. This utterly charming podcast consists of stand-alone stories, as told to placate a Beast, Destroyer of Worlds. The episodes are held together by an ongoing swashbuckling, time-travelling, body-swapping tale about the quest for the Beast’s origins and the means to its downfall. It’s enormously good fun, and I only wish the episodes came out more frequently.

I also enjoy ars PARADOXICA(time travel shenanigans), Limetown, (mockumentary about a mysterious town and its scientific shenanigans), and The Message(another mockumentary – the format works well on audio podcasts – about scientists figuring out a mysterious signal). Away from the strictly sci-fi genre, I highly recommend Greater Boston(if you like Wes Anderson movies, you will like this),Hello from the Magic Tavern (silly), The Lift (spooky), The Magnus Archive (creepy),and Uncanny County (quirky). If you’re still looking for more radio drama content, there’s a good list of paranormal and sci-fi podcasts on Reddit, and you can find additional shows on Twitter via the #audiodramasunday hashtag.

I received a few advance copies on Tuesday, and I’m really pleased with how it’s turned out.

Pocket-sized!

This is one of my favourite illustrations (although it’s hard to choose! Oliver Pugh did a fantastic job). I did my postdoctoral research on repetitive DNA, and I think RNA is one of the most interesting molecules of all time, so I might be a bit biased though.

The book is available for pre-order everywhere, and will be published on March 14th in the USA and March 20th in Canada and elsewhere. Links to all major vendors can be found here – or ask your friendly local independent bookstore!

I’m very excited to officially announce that I have a new book coming out next year!

“Introducing Epigenetics” is part of the Graphic Guides series by Icon Books. I’ve written the text, and artist Oliver Pugh is currently working on the illustrations. He’s done great work on earlier books in the series, and I can’t wait to see his artwork for Introducing Epigenetics!

The book covers all aspects of the exciting field of epigenetics, from the basics of gene regulation and embryonic development to the role of epigenetic modifications in diseases and their treatment, evolution, and the controversial field of epigenetic inheritance. I had a ton of fun writing it, even though it didn’t leave me with much time to do anything else last year!

The book will be available on February 2nd in the UK and March 14th in Canada, Australia, and the US. Other countries TBD.